Supported hypo/hyperthermia pad

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a first conformable material having a three-dimensional shape and a first hypothermia and/or hyperthermia device. This invention is used as a pad for sleeping, lying down, or sitting, to maintain a desired temperature to the contacting surface of a body to the pad.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

The present invention is a continuation of application Ser. No.09/542,010, filed Apr. 3, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,606,754, whichclaims priority to provisional application 60/128,433, filed on Mar. 30,1999.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to a pad that provides hypo/hyperthermiaproperties to a person using the pad.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In U.S. Pat. No. 5,336,708, Chen discloses a gelatinous elastomercomposite article. These articles, as disclosed by Chen, “include: GMG,MGM, MG₁G₂M, M₁M₂G₁G₂, M₂M₁G₁G₂, G₁MG₁G₂, MG₁G₂, G₁G₂M, G₂G₁M, GM₁M₂G,G₁M₁G₂M₂M₁, M₁GM₂GM₃GM₄, [sic] ect, where G=gel and M=material. Thesubscript 1, 2, 3, and 4 are different and are represented by n which isa positive number. The material (M) suitable for forming compositearticles with the gelatinous elastomer compositions can include foam,plastic fabric, metal, concrete, wood, wire screen, refractory material,glass, synthetic resin, synthetic fibers, and the like. Sandwiches ofgel/material . . . are ideal for use as shock absorbers, acousticalisolators, vibration dampers, vibration isolators and wrappers. Forexample the vibration isolators can be [sic] use under researchmicroscopes, office equipment, tables, and the like to remove backgroundvibrations.” U.S. Pat. No. 5,336,708, col. 3, lines 35-51. Chen furtherdiscloses, “generally the molten gelatinous elastomer composition willadhere sufficiently to certain plastics (e.g., acrylic, ethylenecopolymers, nylon, polybutylene, polycarbonate, polystyrene, polyester,polyethylene, polypropylene, styrene copolymers, and the like) providedthe temperature of the molten gelatinous elastomer composition is [sic]sufficient high to fuse or nearly fuse with the plastic. In order toobtain sufficient adhesion to glass, ceramics, or certain metals,sufficient temperature is also required (e.g., above 250° F. [121°C.]).” U.S. Pat. No. 5,336,708, col. 9, lines 8-18 (brackets added forconsistency of temperature comparison).

Elkins in U.S. Pat. No. 4,884,304 describes a bedding system withselective heating and cooling of a person. That system has, from top tobottom, in order: a top mattress cover, a gas envelope and amultiplicity of liquid flow channels. The multiplicity of liquid flowchannels is accomplished by a conventional hypo/hyperthermia blanket.The details of this conventional blanket are set forth in this patent. Aproblem with this system occurs when a person is on the mattress cover.When the person is on that mattress cover, the person has two sides: (1)a “contacting side” that touches the mattress cover and (2) the “exposedside” that does not touch the mattress cover. The person disperses thegas-envelope and only certain portions of the contacting side contactthe flow channels. As shown in FIG. 5 of that patent, the shoulders andother peripheral points of the contacting side of the person, such asarms, do not contact the flow channels. Thereby, that bedding systemfails to transfer the desired temperature of the flow channels uniformlyto all sections of the contacting side of the person.

M. Figman in U.S. Pat. No. 3,266,064, and von der Heyde in U.S. Pat. No.5,887,304 illustrate conventional convective medium mattress systemwhich essentially has a lower “box spring” and a mattress made ofrubber, foam, or conventional mattress materials that an individual orobject lies thereon. In each embodiment, the lower box spring has acavity that the medium enters and distributes throughout. The mediumthen escapes from the cavity through apertures of the mattress.

A problem with these apertures 89 is that they kink 90 when an adultlies 22 thereon, as shown in FIG. 8. Please note that von der Heyde'ssystem is designed for an infant, not an adult. And an infant is of suchlow weight that kinking is essentially nonexistent.

When kinking occurs, the medium is prevented from contacting the body.And when the medium does not contact the body, the medium is unable totreat the hypothermia or hyperthermia portions of the patient thatcontact the mattress, or even cool or heat the portions of the patientthat contact the mattress.

The present invention solves this problem.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a first conformable material having athree-dimensional shape and a first hypothermia and/or hyperthermiadevice.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

A preferred embodiment of the present invention is described in detailhereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the present invention; and

FIGS. 2-7 are alternative embodiments of FIG. 1.

FIG. 8 is prior art of an adult patient on a conventional mattresssystem with apertures.

FIG. 9 is the present invention of an adult patient on a gelatinouselastomeric material with apertures.

FIG. 10 is an alternative embodiment of the present invention with aconventional blanket.

FIG. 11 is an alternative embodiment of FIG. 10 with a convectiveblanket.

FIG. 12 is an alternative embodiment of FIG. 7.

FIG. 13 is an alternative embodiment of FIG. 7.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 illustrates a pad 10 having a first sealable bag 12, a firsthypothermia and/or hyperthermia device 14, and a pad cover 16. The bag12 contains at least a first conformable material 18, and a thermallyconductive medium 20. The thermal conductive medium 20 is any liquid orviscous gel that transfers energy generated by the device 14 to apatient (not shown). Examples of this liquid include water, water-basedsolutions, oil-based solutions, oils, alcohols, mixtures thereof, andviscous gels.

The conformable material 18 is any material having apertures that do noteasily kink, preferably, a gelatinous elastomeric material. Examples oftypes of gelatinous materials, which are heat formable and heatreversible, are fully described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,369,284, 4,618,213,5,262,468, 5,336,708, and 5,508,334, which are hereby incorporated byreference herein, and those made by Pittsburgh Plastic. The gelatinousmaterials manufactured by Pittsburgh Plastic are allegedly distinct fromthe patented types. This conformable material can be of any shape ordesign, so long as it has a three-dimensional shape that supports apatient or object on the pad 10.

The hypothermia and/or hyperthermia device 14 is any conventionalhypo/hyperthermia blanket—an example of this blanket is the MUL-T-PAD®or the THERMACARE® blanket by Gaymar Industries, Inc. of Orchard Park,N.Y.—and its corresponding pump—the MEDI-THERM II® temperature regulatorby Gaymar Industries, Inc. of Orchard Park, N.Y.—, an electric blanket,a cold compress, and a convective device. The convective device pumps orblows air or other gaseous medium (collectively “Air”) having apredetermined temperature. The Air obtains the desired temperature in aconventional Air temperature regulator (for example, an air conditioner,a heat pump, a ThermaCare® blower unit, or the MEDI-THERM II®temperature regulator) and then circulates through a mesh screen likethe Air Queen by Teijin, Inc. or a non-woven polymeric device having aplurality, of tubes with numerous apertures therein. The Air is thendistributed throughout the entire pad 10. In any embodiment of device14, the device 14 affects the temperature that a patient (not shown) orobject (not shown) is exposed to, and, in some embodiments, the medium20 that encompasses the conformable material 18.

The bag 12 is any sealable instrument that contains at least thethermally conductive medium 20 and conformable material 18 in place.Preferably, the bag 12 is plastic, and it can be sealed thermally,acoustically, by a zipper, zip locked, or even by Velcro®.

The pad cover 16 is any conventional material used to cover a pad 10.The pad cover 16 can encompass the entire pad 10, the preferredembodiment as shown, or cover the pad 10 like a conventional mattresssheet. In either embodiment the pad cover 16 can be cloth, leather,plastic or conventional cover material. The materials of the pad cover16 allow the patient or object, on the pad 10, to feel the desiredtemperature of the pad 10 (Air or medium 20). The pad cover 16 can alsoallow moisture to pass through it. Thereby, it helps control thepatient's temperature and prevents overcooling or overheating.

Turning to FIG. 2, a patient 22 disperses a portion of the thermalconductive medium 20 in the bag 12 and contacts at least a portion ofthe conformable material 18 when the patient 22 lies on the pad 10. Theconformable material 18 provides support to the patient 22, increasesthe effective surface contact of the pad 10 to the patient 22 to ensuregreater desired thermal conductivity to the patient 22, maintains thestability of the bag 12, and reduces the pressure to the patient 22. Bymaintaining the stability of the bag 12, the conformable material 18ensures the patient (or object) 22, on the pad 10, from directlycontacting the hypothermia and/or hyperthermia device 14. In otherwords, the patient 22 does not “bottom out” to or directly contact thedevice 14.

In a preferred embodiment, the conformable material 18 has apertures 24.The apertures 24, in this embodiment, go from the bottom to the top ofthe material 18 and ensure the thermal conductive medium 20 is betweenthe patient 22 and the hypothermia and/or hyperthermia device 14.However, in order to decrease, and essentially avoid, kinking—which isdiscussed above and, as a reminder, inhibits the medium 20 or the Airfrom contacting the patient—and which is common in many mattressmaterials, the preferred embodiment of the conformable material 18 is agelantinous elastomer material. The gelantinous elastomer material has astructure design that admittedly bends and indents, as shown in FIG. 9,when a patient lies thereon, but does not kink. Thereby, the Air ormedium can go through the apertures 24.

The hypothermia and/or hyperthermia device 14 heats or cools the thermalconductive material 20 and the patient 22 to a predeterminedtemperature. Since the thermal conductive material 20 contacts most, ifnot all, portions of the contacting side 23 of the patient 22, thematerial 20 ensures a uniform, or nearly uniform application of thepredetermined temperature to the contacting side 23.

Turning to FIG. 3, the pad 10 contains at least a second bag 12 a. Thesecond bag 12 a has at least a second conformable material 18 a and asecond thermal conductive material 20 a. The second thermal conductivematerial 20 a, the second bag 12 a, and the second conformable material18 a can be the same or different materials as the previously listedcorresponding elements 12, 18, 20.

Turning to FIG. 4, an alternative embodiment of FIG. 3 is shown. Asecond hypothermia and/or hyperthermia device 14 a is positioned underthe second bag 12 a. The second hypothermia and/or hyperthermia device14 a can be set at the same or different temperature as the hypothermiaand/or hyperthermia device 14. Thereby, the first thermally conductivematerial 20 can apply one temperature to one portion of the contactingside 23 b of the patient 22 and the second thermally conductive material20 a can apply the same or a different predetermined temperature toanother portion contacting side 23 c.

Turning to FIG. 5, an alternative embodiment of FIG. 4 is shown. A thirdconformable material 18 b underlies the hypothermia and/or hyperthermiadevices 14, 14 a. This material 18 b offers further support to thepatient 22, maintains the stability of the bags 12, 12 a, and furtherreduces the pressure to the patient 22. Obviously, this third material18 b can underlie, or alternatively be over (not shown), the hypothermiaand/or hyperthermia device(s) 14, 14 a of FIGS. 1-4.

Turning to FIG. 6, an alternative embodiment of FIG. 1 is shown. Thehyperthermia and/or hypothermia device 14 is within the bag 12 under, oralternatively be over (not shown), the conformable material 18 andsurrounded by the thermal conductive medium 20. In this embodiment, theconventional inlet-outlet 77 of the device 14, i.e., the pump hoses ofthe MEDI-THERM II® system, protrudes from the sealed bag 12. Obviouslythis embodiment can be used in the other embodiments illustrated inFIGS. 3 and 4.

FIG. 7 illustrates an alternative embodiment of FIG. 1, wherein theconformable material is not inserted in a bag 12 or surrounded by amedium 20. In this embodiment, the hypothermia and/or hyperthermiadevice 14 is a convective unit and the Air goes through the apertures 24of the gelatinous elastomer material 18.

FIG. 12 illustrates an alternative embodiment of FIG. 7. Along with theapertures 24, the conformable material 18 has a plurality of sideapertures 24 a interspaced between the upper wall and a lower wall ofthe material 18. Side apertures 24 a receive Air and then distribute theAir throughout the conformable material 18.

In one embodiment (like that shown in FIG. 7) the device 14 ispositioned below the conformable material 18. In yet another embodiment,as shown in FIG. 12, the device 14 is positioned at an end 563 of theconformable material 14. Thereby the Air goes into the side apertures 24a and is distributed throughout the conformable material 18 andapertures 24, to effect the patient's 22 temperature.

Turning to FIG. 13, another embodiment of the present invention relatesto the positioning of the hypothermia and/or hyperthermia device 14. Thedevice 14 can also be positioned above the conformable material 18. Thedevice 14 adjusts the temperature of the air within the pad 10, and thatair cools or heats or maintains the temperature of the patient 22. Theair also circulates through the pad 10 within the apertures 24 (andmaybe 24 a).

Turning to FIGS. 10 and 11, the Air of FIG. 7 circulates under the cover16, and escapes from, preferably predetermined, a gap 345 in the cover.Extending from gap 345 is a tube 347, flexible or not, that directs theAir under a conventional blanket 348, as shown in FIG. 10, or into anaperture 349 of a convective blanket 350, like the THERMACARE® blanketby Gaymar Industries, Inc., as shown in FIG. 11.

Alternatively, the pad cover 16 has a material that transfers thetemperature to the patient but influences the Air to a predeterminedgap(s) 345 in the pad 10. The predetermined gap(s) 345 can be locatedanywhere within the pad, i.e. at the bottom of the pad, a side of thepad as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, if necessary, under the patient 22, orunder the blanket 348 directly.

Turning to the method of the invention the preferred embodiment of thepresent invention is as an operating table pad and/or any otherstructure or object used in an operating room or hospital-like mattresssystem, such as bed systems or seat cushions. An operating technicianinserts at least one pad 10, having a hypothermia and/or hyperthermiadevice 14, and a conformable material 18, under a predetermined area ofa patient 22. The technician then adjusts the device 14 to apredetermined temperature, in some instances the device 14 can onlyobtain one temperature. In either case, the device 14 adjusts the pad 10to the predetermined temperature. At any time before or after the device14 is initially adjusted to the predetermined temperature, the patient22 lies on the pad 10 and the contacting side 23 of the patient 22 willbe or is exposed to the predetermined temperature.

Although a particular preferred embodiment of the invention has beenillustrated and described in detail for illustrative purposes, it willbe recognized that variations or modifications of the disclosedapparatus, including the rearrangement of parts, lie within the scope ofthe invention defined by the claims.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property orprivilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A pad comprising: a pad cover and within the pad contained by the padcover is I. a first gelatinous elastomeric material having (A) athree-dimensional shape with a top surface, a bottom surface and atleast one side surface and (B) a plurality of apertures positioned onthe exterior of the top surface, the bottom surface or the at least oneside surface and interspaced throughout the first gelatinous elastomericmaterial; and ii. a first convective hypothermia and/or hyperthermiadevice positioned near the first gelatinous elastomeric material toallow the pad to have a desired temperature.
 2. The pad of claim 1wherein the first hypothermia and/or hyperthermia device is below thefirst elastomeric material.
 3. The pad of claim 1 wherein the firsthypothermia and/or hyperthermia device is above the first elastomericmaterial.
 4. The pad of claim 1 wherein the first hypothermia and/orhyperthermia device is on a side of the first elastomeric material. 5.The pad of claim 1 wherein the first elastomeric material has at leastone first aperture from the top surface to the bottom surface of thefirst elastomeric material.
 6. The pad of claim 5 wherein the firstelastomeric material has at least one second aperture positioned betweena first side surface and a second side surface of the first elastomericmaterial.